From schools to offices to hospitals to restaurants, paper such as paper towels and toilet tissue is a necessity that keeps organizations functioning properly. And in today’s environmentally conscious world, choosing a sustainable paper option is extremely important. With many companies labelling their products with “recycled,” “green” and “environmentally friendly,” it’s easy to assume those are the best choice. However, there’s more than meets the eye when determining which paper option is right for you and the environment.

While some recycled products are true to their name and goal, many others, especially within the paper industry, can use those words as a branding scheme and not live up to them. Due to the rise in recycled paper products, paper made from virgin fibres is now seen as wasteful. In most cases though, it’s the exact opposite.

Today, many consumers choose to support brands not only because they offer great products and services, but because they are transparent and responsible about labour, safety and sustainability issues. On the other hand, businesses with poor ethics scorecards can quickly drive customers away. This makes a facility manager’s choice in paper an important decision and one that shouldn’t be based solely on a packaging buzzword.

The Truth about Recycled Fibers

Purchasing products made from recycled paper sounds like the best option to cut waste in restrooms. However, it all comes down to the details. Paper fibres can only be reused from five to seven times¹, depending on the paper grade, and it’s impossible to know how many times paper has been reused. Overused paper fibres can result in inconsistencies, low-quality and poor performance, which are sure to create an unpleasant restroom experience.

The paper industry, on average, uses around 40 percent of forestry². However, trees are a renewable resource and recycling paper reduces the demand for trees, resulting in fewer planted. Recycled fibres are also shorter in length than virgin fibres, which makes the paper more susceptible to breakage and lack absorbency. Recycled paper also doesn’t retain ink as well, causing it to fade or not show up as boldly as intended. Depending on the purpose of the paper, recycled fibres can also cause a lack of stickiness and warp easily under humid conditions.

In addition to basic malfunctions caused by reused fibres, the process of making recycled paper isn’t very hygienic. According to a study done by Laval University, the concentration of bacteria in tested recycled paper was between 100- to 1,000-fold higher than the virgin wood pulp brand³. While the amounts of bacteria found would likely have little effect on healthy people, it does pose a threat to individuals such as young children or those with weakened immune systems.
Another study found that recycled paper mills have an issue with bacterial slime⁴. Since recycled paper contains starches used as binding ingredients, it serves as the perfect breeding ground for bacteria and germs. Some strains found in the study included bacteria associated with food poisoning.

Due to a lack of credible certification, “recycled” paper might not even contain a very high level of original paper, making it necessary for consumers to check percentages. If a brand’s packaging does not identify the paper product as 100 percent recycled, it could have been recovered using energy generated from coal. Because it is contributing to CO₂ emissions and using excess energy, recycled paper that does not meet the 100 percent mark means it may as well have not been recycled at all.

^{1 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/21/science/21qna.html
2 http://www.worldwildlife.org/industries/pulp-and-paper
3 http://www.cleanlink.com/news/article/Study-Finds-Bacteria-in-Unused-Paper-Towels–13862
4 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20544256}